MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) - The Russian Orthodox Church still
doubts the
authenticity of the remains found near Yekaterinburg five years ago.
Experts believe these are the remains of Russia's last emperor
Nicholas II
and his family.

"The attitude to the remains has not changed, because no new
information
has been obtained," head of the Synod Commission on Canonization
Metropolitan Yuvenaly told Interfax on Thursday.

The Metropolitan said he knew nothing about any serious research to
prove
the remains' authenticity. "Apparently, the attention of the
scientific
community and the government to the problem has declined now that
the
remains are buried," he said.

The church is still ready to reconsider the authenticity of the
"Yekaterinburg remains" in case of further studies, he stressed.

The Bolsheviks shot Nicholas II and members of his family and circle
in the
Ipatyev House near Yekaterinburg in 1918. Human remains were found
on the
outskirts of the city, which experts identified as the Romanovs.

The remains were buried in the Czarist burial vault of the Peter and
Paul
Cathedral in St. Petersburg on July 17, 1998, in the presence of
Russia's
first president Boris Yeltsin, statesmen and descendants of the
Romanovs.

Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexy II did not take part in the
ceremony, because the Russian Orthodox Church doubted the
authenticity of
the Yekaterinburg remains.

Several years later, these doubts were confirmed by Japanese
scientists,
who analyzed a drop of sweat found on the clothes of Nicholas II,
and hair,
nails and bone fragments of his brother, Prince Georgy.

One out of five respondents (21%) believes that in the situation,
the
Soviet regime had no choice, and another 21% believe it happened
because of
the chaos and lack of coordination that plagued Russia at the time.
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2003.07.16 RIAN:

CHURCH-CUM-MONUMENT ON THE BLOOD CONSECRATED IN YEKATERINBURG

YEKATERINBURG, July 16 (RIA Novosti-Urals correspondent Gulnara
Kalinina) -
The Church-cum-Monument on the Blood has been consecrated in
Yekaterinburg
(the Urals). It has been built on the place of the shooting down of
the
tsarist family. Reporters were told about it on Wednesday in the
press
service of the governor of the Sverdlovsk region.

With the blessing of Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia
the
divine liturgy was conducted by Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsy
and Kolomna.

During the celebrations, Olga Kulikovskaya-Romanova, the wife of the
nephew
of Nicholas the Second, presented the church with an Icon of Our
Lady.

"This icon was in the Ipatyev house in which the family of the last
Russian
Emperor lived in imprisonment in 1918," says the information
department of
the regional governor.

A religious procession with a cross and banners passed around the
church.
After its completion, a concert with the participation of the best
opera
singers took place in the square in front of the church.